Bentley Continental GT
It has a 6-liter, 12-cylinder engine in W formation. The smallest Bentley with all-wheel drive, which is safer and more powerful than rear-wheel-drive

The Bentley Continental GT has its roots as the progeny of the marriage between Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The two-door tourer replaced the heavily Rolls-influenced Continental R and T after the companies’ 2002 annulment. These days the name lives on as the performance coupe member of the most blue-blood car family the world over. The current versions, the GT and GTC (convertible), are built for speed as well as unsurpassed comfort.

Sure, there are other top-echelon exotics—namely Bentley’s former partner, Rolls-Royce—but none as upper-crust as these. Mechanics aside, each Bentley can be basically designed by its driver, who can even have a paint color mixed to order if none of the umpteen offerings in the finish queue does the trick. Nearly as many colors are available for the interior hide (don’t you dare call it leather), as well as the seatbelts, headliner, carpeting, and every other material in there. You’ll choose your veneer wood-type as well, but then you’d expect that of Bentley of course.  

Every Bentley is special, but the Continental GT has its own additional distinctions. It’s the smallest Bentley ever as well as the first to feature all-wheel drive, since it’s more desirable for both safety and power execution than the traditional rear-drive. And boy oh boy, is it fast.

And if visual disruptions really get your goat, there’s a simple solution: the Continental GTC. That C stands for convertible, and it’s your ticket to an unobstructed view of the atmosphere. The ragtop version was introduced for the 2006 model year, and it boasts a glass rear window with defroster and a leather-covered boot for pampered stowage of its Karmann roof.

Just as you wouldn’t expect the Queen to dance on nightclub table, you might be shocked to see this prime example of refinement roar out from a standstill to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. But it can, and it will, with barely a shudder from its silky 6-speed, paddle-shifted Tiptronic tranny. Give some of the credit to the twin turbochargers with their huge appetite for cool, fresh air.

The other numbers have equal potential to startle: 552 brake horsepower, a bloody whopping 479 lb.-ft. of torque (at 1600 rpm—I repeat, 1600), and a top speed an undetectable hair under 200—198 mph, says Bentley. The independent air suspension continuously adjusts itself to the situation, unless the driver cares to take over through the car’s nerve center system.

It’s fun just to look at a few fabulous facts about this unique carmaker. There isn’t a thing the crew in Crewe has not thought of. Take the hide, for example. Approximately 15 animal hides are needed to complete one Bentley’s interior. The bovines that yield the hides come from Northern Europe, where biting insects are fewer, because—don’t you know—an insect bite might leave a teeny scar that would then show on the seating surface. And that would be unacceptable in a Bentley. 

Remarkable attention to detail defines this automobile, and it’s evident in the fit and finish. An astonishing number of spot welds on each Bentley body translates into an impeccable ride not surpassed by any other automobile. Gotta wonder if they give tours of the facility where these babies are built; talk about a fantasy field trip! 

Speaking of the chilly north of Europe, a Continental GT outfitted with spiked tires recently broke the world record for fastest speed on ice, posting a two-way average of 199.86 mph (peaking at 205) over a 28-inch-thick layer of the Baltic Sea. The shattered record had been held by a Bugatti. 

It’s often said that no news is good news. Well, about the same time back across the Pond in the warmer climes of Los Angeles, police seized Paris Hilton’s Continental GTC as she made a late-night burger run. It seems they caught the air-headed heiress driving on a suspended license with her headlights off (apparently the young woman has a total aversion to brightness, but at least her taste in transportation is sound). 

GET IT: if you have your heart set on a Bentley convertible, and the Azure is more than you want in both size and price.